Arbor Day!

After an eventful (and weird) weekend which featured a huge wedding at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac, and setting up a full scale stage and sound system inside a Foot Locker during a tornado, it was nice to relax and celebrate Arbor Day with the Village of Twin Oaks.

Twin Oaks has been recognized as a Tree City U.S.A. Community for each of the last five years. This means that they have made a commitment both philosophically and monetarily to developing a program for the planting and care of trees. Part of this commitment is met by holding an annual event to raise awareness about Arbor Day. As part of this event, Tower Sound & Vision was asked to provide a podium, microphone and sound system at the unexpectedly scenic Twin Oaks Park, located just southeast of the junction of 141 and Big Bend. With nearly one hundred 4th graders from Valley Park Elementary in attendance, the additional sound was definitely necessary!

Just a quick note about Twin Oaks Park; if you haven't been there, you should definitely spend an afternoon there this summer. It was beautifully manicured and tucked back off of the main roads just enough to feel quiet and peaceful. There are several events in the park throughout the spring and summer, or you could just take a stroll through the trails one quiet evening. Maybe we'll see you there!

TSV Remembers: Mad Men Season 4 Wrap Party

Today we're climbing back into the TSV time machine to take a look at another event from the past. Most television shows have a party for the cast and crew when they finish filming a season. They call it a wrap party, because they have "wrapped" filming. We've provided A/V for several wrap parties, including "Boston Legal," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Brothers & Sisters," and "Southland."

Last year, we got a call to work on the wrap party for a show that puts all of these other to shame. A show that has skyrocketed St. Louis's golden boy, Jon Hamm, to the height of fame. My favorite show: "Mad Men." We were super excited. Our task was simple: to project a 15 foot tall image of the Mad Men logo on the side of a building next to the event, and to use the same projector to show a "gag reel" (a collection of bloopers and outtakes from the season) about halfway through the party. A pretty simple setup:

• Two 400 watt powered speakers
• An Eiki LC-XT9 9000 lumen projector
• A Kramer VP-728 video switcher
• A BluRay player
• A bunch of assorted lighting to set the mood

The evening was awesome. We got to meet all of our favorite actors and actresses from the show. Since it's a party for the cast and crew to cut loose and have a good time, pictures are discouraged, but we managed to get a few. As you can see, they even gave Collin an official Mad Men fedora, which he attempted to squeeze onto his giant head:

Ok, a little Mad Men Opinion Quiz to help us all make it to the Season 5 premier this fall. Put your answers in the comments section to spark a lively debate!

1) In Season 5, Don Draper will be:

       a. Married to Megan

       b. Married to Betty

       c. Single; once-divorced

       d. Single; twice-divorced

2) In Season 5, Joan Harris will be:

       a. Joan Harris (married)

       b. Joan Harris (widowed)

       c. Joan Hathaway (divorced)

       d. Joan Sterling

       e. Joan Cooper (in a surprising twist)

3) In Season 5, Don Draper will be working for:

       a. Sterling Cooper Draper Price

       b. Sterling Cooper Draper Price Campbell

       c. BBDO

4) What is your favorite Mad Men episode ever:

       a. The Suitcase

Intercorp Conference 2/18 - 2/21

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks, and we have all kinds of cool stuff that we've been wanting to tell you about.

Back in February, we had the privilege of helping out with the Intercorp Christian Conference at St. Louis's Marriott West, as churches from all over the country gathered for four days of prayer and worship. TSV was tasked with providing sound systems for the conference's three meeting rooms: the grand ballroom, the teen room, and a room for the kids.

In the main ballroom, we had the unique challenge of working with a worship band made up of professional musicians from all over the world, several of whom were flying in from overseas for the event. These guys are used to first rate gear, and we didn't want to disappoint. 

A partial gear list for the main ballroom:

• Yamaha M7CL 48 channel digital console
• 4 JBL PRX615 Mid/High Cabinets
• 2 JBL PRX618xlf Subs
• 8 15" bi-amped monitors with 2" horn drivers
• 1 four mix monitor rack (QSC power, Ashly EQ, Ashly Processing)
• Kick - AKG D112, Snare - Beta57, Hat - AT4041, Toms - Beta98s, OHs - SM81s, Guitars - SM57s, Vox - Beta58s and Beta87s, Wireless - Shure ULX P4s, DIs - BSS AR133s

Since no one was too sure what equipment the musicians were bringing in with them, we also got a last minute request for guitar and bass amps, and were more than happy to provide a Fender Twin Reverb, and a Hartke 15" Bass Combo from our backline stock.

We left the system in the capable hands of Chicago's Joshua Lee for the weekend, and by all accounts everything sounded great. With a good band, good engineer, and good system, how could it not?

Check out a few pics: